Margot Robbie felt like a life in plastic was just right for her.
So, when it came to casting the role of the titular doll in Barbie, Margot, who also served as a co-producer on the film, stepped up for the role.
"I didn't actually audition for the role of Barbie," Margot told Teen Vogue in a video interview published July 24. "I produced the film, so I guess I cast myself."
However, Margot explained she made it "very clear" to Barbie's director Greta Gerwig that the filmmaker had creative control over who would land the role.
"I said to her when she said, 'Yes, I'll come on board,' 'I don't have to be in the movie,'" Margot continued. "I'm very passionate about making this as a producer, but I don't have to play Barbie or be in the movie in any capacity, I'm happy just to produce."
Greta, though, already had a fantastic vision in mind. "And she was like, 'No, I really wanna write this for you,'" Margot recalled. "And she wrote me an amazing part, so I'm very grateful."
As for Barbie's pal Ken, both Greta and Margot knew Ryan Gosling would be more than kenough for the role.
"She wrote him into the script as well," Margot added. "It always said in the script: 'Barbie, Margot' and 'Ken, Ryan Gosling.'"
What's more, the script was written way before Ryan ever agreed to the project. In fact, Margot said they "manifested that into existence as well."
"And just pretty much wouldn't take no for an answer," she added. "We're like, Ryan, you have to come do it. It's on the page, you have to."
Work on the Barbie movie actually began at Sony in 2016, when Amy Schumer and her sister Kim Caramele were writing the script for Amy to star in, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The comedian later dropped out and Anne Hathaway reportedly joined as the titular doll.
But, Margot's production company then teamed with Warner Bros. to take over, tapping Greta to co-write and direct the final version, which is now in theaters.
Read on to see who else was almost cast in the movie.
Amy Schumer
Seven years before Greta Gerwig's version of Barbie premiered, a movie based on the popular doll was already in the works at Sony, with the comedian attached to the project.
And while in 2017, she announced she wouldn't be able to star in the film due to scheduling conflicts, earlier this year, she revealed the real reason behind her exit.
"I think we said it was scheduling conflicts," she said during a June 2023 episode of Watch What Happens Live. "That's what we said. But it really was just like, creative differences. But there's a new team behind it and it looks like it's very feminist and cool, so I will be seeing this movie."
The Trainwreck star's sentiment echoes what she previously shared about the direction she realized the project was going in.
"They definitely didn't want to do it the way I wanted to do it, the only way I was interested in doing it," she told the Hollywood Reporter in March 2022.
Noting that she wanted Barbie to be an "inventor," she said the studio had the idea that a creation of hers would be heels made of Jell-O and later sent her a pair of Manolo Blahniks."
The idea that that's just what every woman must want, right there," she said, "I should have gone, ‘You've got the wrong gal.'"
After Amy's departure, the Devil Wears Prada alum signed up in 2018 to replace the comedian, with a set release date of 2020. But by the end of that year, Deadline confirmed that Anne was no longer attached to the project, which had made its way over to Warner Bros. with Margot Robbie as Barbie instead.
Margot, who serves both star and co-producer of Barbie, originally envisioned the Wonder Woman star to lead the Barbie world.
"Gal Gadot is Barbie energy," Margot told Vogue of the actress, who wasn't available for the part. "Because Gal Gadot is so impossibly beautiful, but you don't hate her for being that beautiful because she's so genuinely sincere, and she's so enthusiastically kind, that it's almost dorky. It's like right before being a dork."
Ahead of Barbie's premiere, the Lady Bird alum (and longtime collaborator of Greta's) revealed she was up for a special cameo in the film. Alas, she was busy shooting The Outrun in Scotland at the time.
"I was supposed to do a cameo because I live in London and they were [filming] there," she told People. "There was a whole character I was going to play—another Barbie. I was gutted I couldn't do it."
Saoirse wasn't the only one Greta was hoping would make a special appearance, as the director revealed she also had her eyes set on Lady Bird's Timothée Chalamet.
"I was also going to do a specialty cameo with Timmy, and both of them couldn't do it, and I was so annoyed," Greta told CinemaBlend. "But I love them so much. But it felt like doing something without my children. I mean, I'm not their mom, but I sort of feel like their mom."
The Schitt's Creek alum was unable to take on a role of a Ken due to the cast having to spend three months filming in London, the film's casting director Allison Jones told Vanity Fair.
The actor himself told People in January 2024, "Logistically could not make it work despite desperately trying to. So, yeah, I guess I was technically unavailable to do that."
He added, "Does it haunt me when I sleep at night Sometimes. It's not like it isn't like one of the biggest movies of all time. That was a tough, that was a tough day."
Another Ken that could've been? Saturday Night Live star Bowen Yang also wasn't available to film, according to Allison.
And last but not least, Ben Platt rounded out the trio of potential Kens, who, as Allison revealed, were "really bummed they couldn't do it."
The Glee alum felt decidedly not gleeful about missing out on the role as Allan (which would later go to Michael Cera).
"Dear, dear Jonathan Groff was like, ‘I can't believe I'm typing this," Allison shared, "but I can't do Allan."